RECORDING OF INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE JANUARY 15, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. LEAVITT, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4604] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4604) to provide for the recording of the Indian sign language through the instrumentality of Maj. Gen. Hugh L. Scott, retired, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment. This bill to provide for the recording of the Indian sign language through the instrumentality of Gen. Hugh L. Scott resulted from a talk with the chairman of the committee with Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the explorer, and General Scott at Lethbridge, Alberta, last summer. Doctor Stefansson, the greatest authority on the language of the Eskimos, hailed General Scott as the outstanding authority on the sign language of the American Indians, and called attention to the need of permanently recording knowledge which only General Scott, with his over 50 years of life and study among the Indians, now possesses. In the words of Doctor Stefansson, "Should it fail to be done, the world of scholarship will increasingly deplore our blindness in letting go by the one remaining opportunity to record the sign language." He The motion and talking pictures are considered the only method of securing at once the history, the theory, and the practice of that universal language of the Indians of the buffalo country. No one except General Scott, now 76 years old, has made a lifelong study of it. began his study in Montana when he was just out of West Point, in 1876, the year of the Custer battle, and has continued up to to-day. He should be given a free hand, with the cooperation of the Smithsonian Institution and the Office of Indian Affairs, and there should be no delay in getting at it. The ability of General Scott, now a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners and the confidence of the Government in him are evidenced by the many calls upon his services for over half a century in handling difficult situations among the Indians. The favorable report of the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a recommendation by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the bill be enacted, is as follows: Hon. SCOTT LEAVITT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In connection with your request of November 15 for a report on H. R. 4604, which would provide for the recording of the Indian sign language, there is inclosed a memorandum from Commissioner Rhoads regarding the matter. After a review of the measure, I agree with Commissioner Rhoads in his favorable recommendation. Yours very truly, RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, This will refer to H. R. 4604, proposing to authorize an appropriation of $5,000 for making a permanent record of the sign language of the American Indians by motion and sound pictures through the instrumentality of Maj. Gen. Hugh L. Scott, retired. The sign language of the Indians is dying out with the progress of civilization among them, and will soon be a thing of the past. It would be of great historic value to future generations to make a permanent record of this primitive means of communicating thought; and it is especially appropriate to accomplish this result through the medium of motion and sound pictures which represent the latest development along the same line, thereby most effectively combining the old and the new. It is likewise fitting that the work should be undertaken by General Scott, who is, I believe, the greatest living authority on the subject. Under the circumstances, therefore, I recommend the enactment of the bill. О C. J. RHOADS, Commissioner. ARTHUR L. HECYKELL JANUARY 15, 1930.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. BURDICK, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 658] The Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 658) for the relief of Arthur L. Hecykell, having had the same under consideration, report favorably thereon, without amendment, and with the recommendation that the bill do pass. An identical bill for the relief of Arthur L. Hecykell, passed the House in the Seventieth Congress. Chief Machinist Hecykell was appointed a machinist in the Navy in 1914; he was temporarily advanced to the ranks of ensign, lieutenant (junior grade), and lieutenant during the period of the late war. In March, 1920, he appeared before a naval retiring board, which found him not incapacitated for service by reason of a disability which was not considered permanent if further operation should be performed; was sent to naval hospital. He was subsequently in May, 1921, examined physically preliminary to transfer to the rank of lieutenant, permanent grade regular, but was found not physically qualified because of the above-mentioned disability, June, 1921, in naval hospital at San Diego, Calif. Subsequently returned to duty. August, 1921, requested retirement in accordance with the act of July 12, 1921; no action taken. In November, 1921, again requested to be placed on the retired list or that all physical defects be waived and he be given his promotion. December, 1921, appeared before medical examining board; found not physically qualified for promotion because of said disability. December 31, 1921, Mr. Hecykell's temporary appointment as a commissioned officer terminated by operation of the law, and he reverted to his permanent status as machinist, and after that date he was not eligible under the law for retirement in his temporary rank. In March, 1922, ordered before retiring board and found permanently disabled on account of the above-mentioned disability which was found to have been incurred in line of duty, and as the result of an incident of the service, and retired in the grade of chief machinist. The committee feels that all the medical evidence taken together shows that Mr. Hecykell had the same disability in August, 1921, that he had in March, 1922, when he was retired. The committee therefore feels that he was entitled to have been retired at the time he made application in August, 1921. The department recommended legislation covering this and other cases in the omnibus legislative bill in the Sixty-eighth Congress, but the committee feels that these cases should be covered by private bills and not by general legislation. In reporting on that proposed legislation the department said: This section is proposed in order to provide for the retirement in the temporary rank held by the officers concerned in the cases of several officers who have been retired since the termination of their temporary appointments and who incurred physical disability during the period of time they were serving under the higher temporary appointments. It is believed that the proposal is equitable because of the fact that many other officers were retired in the higher ranks under similar conditions prior to the termination of their temporary appointments. In these cases the officers concerned appeared before retiring boards in 1921, but action was delayed owing to doubt as to whether the incapacity was permanent. Subsequently it became apparent that such incapacity was of a permanent nature, and the officer was retired. The retirement, however, did not become effective until after December 31, 1921, and the officer necessarily was retired in the lower rank. Had retirement been effected on the first occasion of the meeting of the retiring board, these officers would have been retired in their temporary rank. The following-named retired officers will probably be entitled to the benefits of this legislation, and it is possible that one or two may not come within its provision: The following letter from the Acting Secretary of the Navy addressed to the chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives sets forth the attitude of the Navy Department in the case: NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, September 24, 1929. The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's letter of April 23, 1929, transmitting the bill (H. R. 658) for the relief of Arthur L. Hecykell, and requesting the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, I have the honor to advise you as follows: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the President to appoint Arthur L. Hecykell a lieutenant in the United States Navy and to place him on the retired list of the Navy with the retired pay and allowances of that grade. Arthur L. Hecykell was appointed a machinist in the Navy in January, 1914. He was temporarily advanced to the ranks of ensign, lieutenant (junior grade), and lieutenant during the period of the World War. In 1920 he appeared before a naval retiring board, which board found him not incapacitated for service by reason of a disability which was not considered permanent if further operation should be performed, and further found that the disability was incurred in the line of duty as the result of an incident of the service, which originated prior to the date of his temporary appointment as an ensign. He was subsequently examined physically preliminary to promotion to the grade of chief machinist and found not qualified. Mr. Hecykell's temporary appointment as a commissioned officer terminated by operation of law on December 31, 1921, when he reverted to his permanent status as a machinist, and after that date he was not eligible under the law for retirement in his temporary commissioned rank. In 1922 he was retired in the grade of chief machinist by reason of the aforementioned disability, which was again found to have been incurred prior to his temporary advancement in rank. The report of the retiring board in this case reads, in part, as follows: * * find him to be incapacitated for active service by reason of adhesions of the peritoneum following two abdominal operations; that his incapacity is permanent and was incurred in line of duty, not in time of war, as the result of an incident of the service, and furthermore that his disability was incurred while serving as a machinist in the United States Navy, and that it is 75 per cent for the naval service and 25 per cent for civil life." Attention is invited to the fact that Mr. Hecykell was again considered by a naval retiring board on May 13, 1925, pursuant to the provisions of section 25 of the act approved March 4, 1925 (43 Stat. 1278), which section reads as follows: "SEC. 25. Any officer of the regular Navy who has been retired since December 31, 1921, by reason of physical disability which originated in the line of duty at any time between April 6, 1917, and March 3, 1921, inclusive, while holding higher temporary rank, shall be advanced on the retired list, to or shall be placed on the retired list in, such higher grade or rank." The naval retiring board in this case reported that the disability for which Mr. Hecykell was retired on March 27, 1922, was not incurred during the period of his service under a temporary appointment nor in time of war, viz, between April 6, 1917, and March 3, 1921. The bill H. R. 658, if enacted, will result in an additional cost to the Government of $682.50 per annum. The bill H. R. 658 was referred to the Bureau o the Budget with the above information as to cost and a statement that the Navy Department contemplated making an unfavorable recommendation thereon. Under date of June 4, 1929, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget advised the Navy Department that, in so far as the financial program of the President is concerned, there is no objection to making an unfavorable report on this proposed legislation. The bill H. R. 658 is similar in language to the bill H. R. 3721 introduced in the Seventieth Congress. In view of the foregoing, the Navy Department recommends against the enactment of the bill H. R. 658. Sincerely yours, ERNEST LEE JAHNCKE, O Acting Secretary of the Navy. |